DIY Paper Mums Using Book Pages & Tissue Paper

Paper crafts have always been a fun creative way to decorate a room, or give as gifts. Personally, it’s not my favorite craft, mainly because I am not very good at it! But, I have mastered the art of Paper Mums.

That being said, these festive paper mums are pretty popular in the stores (I’ve seen them at Target, Walmart and Hobby Lobby) and I thought, why not make my own!? 

Fun Fact: I used a techinique I learned in elementry school with the tissue paper.

I like to use book pages for most of my crafts, since I am such an avid reader and book lover; it adds a personal touch to my decor that’s all me. 

BUT.

You CAN use regular contruction paper, or just tissue paper, as instructed below. The fun thing about this craft is that you can personalize them by color, size, hanging or flat, etc.

And, it’s a great craft for kids!

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How to Create Your Own Paper Mums

Gather your supplies! 

Most of this could be found around your home – but if not, Walmart, Target or any craft store will have it.

• A Book you don’t mind defacing 
• Tissue paper
• Scissors
• Glue (I used a hot glue gun, but elmers could work!)
• A pencil
• Foam Balls, whatever size you prefer
• Tacks*
• String* (I like clear, so when they’re hung up, they look as if they’re floating)

*For Hanging, Optional

First, start by cutting up your book pages and/or tissue paper. I used a varity of different sizes, but the smaller seems to work best. 

Glue on the tack to an area of the ball. This is what the string will attach to if you decide to hang it, and also a visual on a starting point for the “pedals.”

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Put some glue onto the ball and start adding pedals. To do this, take your small square of paper and wrap it around the pencil end; either side works fine.

Place the paper on the ball and press slighty to keep in place. Continue to do this until your glue strip runs out, going around the top using the tack as your guide.

I don’t put a lot of the glue on the ball to start, simply because you want the glue nice and hot when placing the paper. Once you figure out how fast you move, will determine how much glue to put onto the ball at one time.

Continue to do this until the ball is complety covered in paper. Towards the end, it will be easier to put a small amount of glue on the paper instead of the ball directly to fill in the gaps, should you have any.

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There are differt ways to do this to change the look.

• Complete using only pieces of books pages as shown above, which personally I love the look of.
• Alternate between tissue paper and book pages, which creates a pop color that would brighten up any room.
• Or, put tissue paper inside the book page. I like the look, but I don’t like how long it takes.

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Finish Up

As mentioned above, you hang these up, or, you can set them on a table or on a candle holder as a desktop decoration. 

Personally, I like the look of them hung up – but they look great no matter which way you chose to display them.

Let’s Chat

• Do you craft using book pages?
• What are some crafts that you love doing?